Nothing But Blackened Teeth, page 8
Lately, I’ve begun to wonder if the ohaguro-bettari followed us from the manor. I see her, sometimes. Or at least, I think I do. Reflected in the windows, her face as wan as mine. But it is always my reflection, the eyes smudged of definition, the mouth blotted in shadow so it looks like there’s nothing but blackened teeth.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to Ellen Datlow, first and foremost, for believing in this book when I couldn’t make heads or tails of its worth. It literally wouldn’t exist if not for you going, “I like this, but it needs a lot of work.”
To the team at Nightfire for this and everything else, and especially Kristin Temple for helping me survive bureaucracy.
To Michael Curry for being my long-suffering agent and indomitable supporter.
To Richard Kadrey, Ali Trota, Olivia Wood, Linda Nguyen, Shoma Patnaik, Gary Astleford, Chris Blake, and Brian Kindregan, I adore all of you. Thank you for being there throughout a rough year.
ALSO BY CASSANDRA KHAW
A Song for Quiet
Hammers on Bone
“These Deathless Bones”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CASSANDRA KHAW is an award-winning game writer, and a former scriptwriter for Ubisoft Montreal. Khaw’s work can be found in places such as The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Lightspeed, and Tor.com. Khaw’s first original novella, Hammers on Bone, was a British Fantasy Award and Locus Award finalist. You can sign up for email updates here.
Twitter: @casskhaw
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Also by Cassandra Khaw
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
NOTHING BUT BLACKENED TEETH
Copyright © 2021 by Zoe Khaw Joo Ee
All rights reserved.
Cover art by Samuel Araya
A Nightfire Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
120 Broadway
New York, NY 10271
www.tornightfire.com
NightfireTM is a trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-75941-2 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-75942-9 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250759429
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
First Edition: 2021
Cassandra Khaw, Nothing But Blackened Teeth
